Writer's Month 2019: Sailor Moon
by Veritas Found
Summary: Ficlets written in response to the 2019 Writer's Month on Tumblr, in which: Nate's sister causes trouble; Makoto practices for a baking contest; and Beryl gets to the Senshi first.
1. Aug 1: Annoyance

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**01 August 2019**

_**Prompt: **__Annoyance (Word)_

_**Fandom:**__ Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_

_**Character/Pairing:**__ Nephrite (Nate Jones)/Kino Makoto; Rose Rosenstein-Jones (OC), Shari Rosenstein-Jones (OC)_

_**Rating:**__ K / G / All Ages_

_**Notes:**__ I really, _really_ need to just edit that fic and post, as I keep playing with the Jones family/things that happen in that fic without…y'know…actually posting it. Anyway, have some more N/M fluff a la Writer's Month!_

"He's annoyed with you, you know."

Makoto glanced up from the cake she'd been working on, her hand poised above the edge with a sliced strawberry. Rose was sitting at the other side of the island, her eyes focused on the magazine Minako had leant her. (It was one of the older ones in Minako's collection, from back when she had been in England. Minako had let Rose borrow a good number of the magazines she had collected over the years, all featuring interviews and specials on Sailor V, to help with her research on the musical.) Rose may not have been looking at her, but Makoto was certain that grin was aimed at her.

"Who? Nate?" she asked, and Rose hummed. She jotted something down in the notebook she'd been marking in (instead of the magazine, as Minako would probably kill her for that) and looked up at Makoto. Her grin turned a tad more mischievous.

"He's _very_ annoyed with you," she said, almost in a sing-song. Makoto frowned.

"Why?" she asked, worried, and Rose laughed. She waved her off and looked back to her magazine.

"Oh, he's just being petty," she said. "It's Shari."

"What about her?" Makoto huffed. Shari and Nate weren't even in the flat at present: Nate had taken her to the market to grab supplies for dinner (Rose was cooking, a recipe from their amá sání, while Makoto was providing the cake for dessert), and they wouldn't be back for a good half hour yet. It was actually quiet, which was kind of nice. The flat hadn't really been _quiet_ since Rose and Shari had arrived a week ago.

"She's nuts about you," Rose said. She looked up from the magazine again and smiled softly. "It's a good thing, Makoto – especially since I'm pretty sure Nate's going to be proposing to you before Christmas."

Makoto looked back at her cake, preoccupying herself with placing the strawberry in the perfect spot so she didn't focus on how warm her face felt. It wouldn't surprise her if Nate did propose before Christmas, even if they'd _technically_ only been together a few months.

"Nate was her favorite before you came along. I think he's feeling that," Rose continued. Her expression was kind, even if Makoto doubted her intentions. Rose was a _theatre person_, as she liked to point out, and so loved _drama_. Makoto wasn't really surprised she was getting along so well with Minako, all things considered. "So of course he insisted on taking her to the store instead of letting her help you with the cake."

"I don't think he's that upset about it," Makoto mumbled. Rose rolled her eyes.

"He's jealous, and he's annoyed that he's jealous because he knows he's being stupid. It's his own fault for moving so far away," Rose tutted. "He could have stayed in Phoenix with us, but noooo. He _had_ to move to Tokyo. Stupid internship."

"…I'm glad he moved to Tokyo," Makoto cut in. The internship was just a means to an end, anyway. She was sure Mamoru and the other men were glad Nate had taken it, too. Rose grinned.

"Well, of course _you_ are," she said, "but Shari misses her favorite uncle, and I miss my favorite brother. The only reason I'm forgiving him for this mess is because it looks like I'm going to gain a new favorite sister in the process."

Makoto blinked as Rose packed up her magazine and notes and stood from the island. She said she was grabbing a shower before Nate and Shari got back, leaving Makoto to blink after her.

She wondered if all of the Joneses were that weird or if it was just the Rosenstein-Joneses.

– V –

Makoto had just placed the shortcake in the fridge when the front door opened. Shari's pealing squeals and Nate's warm laughter immediately chased away the silence, bringing a smile to her lips. Shari crashed into her legs moments later, making her laugh, and she began telling her about the funny people they had met at the market.

"Zany and Joe!" Shari cried, and Makoto had to bite her lip to hold in the snort. She looked up at Nate, who was also grinning as he placed the shopping on the island. "Zany got me a lollipop, and Joe called him a _Creeper_ because he's not supposed to give candy to kids he doesn't know, but Zany said Joe's just mean, and –"

"Breathe, Shari!" Makoto laughed, and Shari grinned up at her. Makoto tapped her nose. "Joji's right – _Zane_ shouldn't give candy to strangers, but Zane isn't really a stranger. I'm sure your Uncle Nate told you that before he gave you candy."

"Zany was wearing a dress!" Shari cheered. Makoto looked at Nate, who shrugged.

"He's helping Rei and Joji with the festival," he said. "I tried explaining the difference between a yukata and a dress, but Shari still insists Zane was wearing the 'prettiest dress she's ever seen'."

"I'm sure he was," Makoto said with a laugh. Knowing Zane, it was probably a metallic fabric with shimmering golden trim and dotted with cherry blossoms. (It was also probably blue, as he liked to match Ami.) Nate leaned over Shari to give Makoto a kiss, eliciting another set of squeals from his niece.

"Eeeeewwwww!" Shari laughed, and Nate chuckled as he pecked Makoto's lips again.

"I think I'm grossing out our guest," he stage whispered to her.

"I think I want to gross her out again," she whispered back, and he laughed before swooping in for another kiss. Shari squirmed away from between them, laughing as she ran back towards the guest room.

"Mama! Mama! Uncle Nate and Auntie Mako are being _gross!"_ she cried. Nate chuckled and pulled Makoto against him, kissing her properly now that his niece was gone.

"Hello," he murmured against her lips, and she kissed him again before returning his greeting. "I hope Rose wasn't too much trouble?"

"I love your family," she was quick to say. The look he gave her told her he was unconvinced. She slapped his shoulder. "Stop it. I do."

"You love the part of my family you've met," he pointed out, "which is limited to my parents, Rose, and Shari."

"And I love them," she said firmly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pecking at his lips again. "Even if it annoys you."

"Annoys me? Never. I love that you love my family," he said, though he paused for a moment to reconsider that. "Well. I won't love you loving Sharon, since nobody loves Sharon –"

"Rose and Shari love Sharon," she pointed out, and he laughed again.

"Shari doesn't have a choice, and Rose has had a temporary lapse of sanity for almost ten years," he said, making her laugh. She hadn't actually met Rose's husband yet (he was tied up with his own family and had to miss the trip), but the stories were enough. "Whatever made you think you liking Shari and Rose would annoy me?"

"Rose said you're annoyed that Shari likes me more," Makoto said with a roll of her eyes. "It was dumb."

"No, I am annoyed by that," he confirmed with a nod of his head. She looked at him with wide eyes, but he only shrugged. "What? I miss being Shari's favorite – but that's my problem, not yours. Rose is just an instigator."

"So you're not annoyed with me?" she asked. He sighed at how uncertain she still sounded.

"It's a stupid thing to get upset about," he said. He stepped away from her, though he tugged her hand to pull her after him as he went to the living room. "And to prove it, let's get Shari in here to play some Monopoly while Rose destroys your kitchen."

"My –!"

"Shari! Grab the Monopoly board and get out here!" Nate called, cutting her off. He tugged her down beside him on the couch and kicked his legs on the coffee table. She gave him a pointed look, and he attempted to mollify her with another kiss to her cheek. "You smell like strawberries. Delicious."

"Cut it out. Now _I'm_ annoyed with _you_," she huffed.

Shari ran in carrying the Monopoly Jr box, which was almost as big as she was. She looked between her uncle and (new favorite) aunt, confused at why Uncle Nate was laughing so much when Auntie Mako looked so mad. She shrugged it off with the nonchalance of all six-year-olds and held up the board.

"Can I be the puppy?"


	2. Aug 7: Sports

**07 August 2019**

_**Prompt: **__Sports (Word)_

_**Fandom:**__ Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_

_**Character/Pairing:**__ Kino Makoto, General Cast_

_**Rating:**__ K / G / All Ages_

_**Notes:**__ What are sports. How do you sports. This is short and dumb because time and "sports" (but mostly time – sorry, guys!). (My 'sports' is watching Worst Cooks in America and screaming at the guy for thinking he can marinate with cheese.)_

Mamoru and Nate could hear the cheering from the hallway. They shared a confused look before Nate opened the door to the flat, and the volume spiked.

"What is going on in here?" Mamoru tried to ask above the noise. The noise persisted, and they followed it into the kitchen. Usagi and Minako were gathered around the island (their cheers being the main source of the noise), where Makoto, armed with a piping back and spinning a flower nail between her fingers, was making rose after rose. Zane stood off to the side, with his phone in one hand and a clicker in the other. Kassim stood near the sofa, watching from a safe distance. Nate and Mamoru made their way over to him.

"What's going on?" Mamoru asked again. Kassim passed him a flyer.

"Usagi saw this at the Crown," he said, "and brought it home for Makoto. Now Makoto is doing time trials to see how many roses she can make in a minute."

The flyer was for a cake competition to be held the next month. Contestants would have five hours to produce a six-tier wedding cake, and the winning baker would be featured at an upcoming bridal show (along with a nice cash prize that, Nate knew, would help towards actually opening Makoto's shop). Nate grinned as he took the flyer from Mamoru.

"Hey, babe, awesome!" he called. "I've been telling you to do this for months!"

"Shut up – she's concentrating!" Minako snapped at him. "Come on, Makoto, you got this!"

"And time!" Zane called, holding up his phone. "Wow, Makoto – that's twenty-five!"

"Not good enough," Makoto huffed, dropping the piping bag on a counter. She reached up and wiped at her brow, smearing a bit of icing against her skin. Zane gave her an incredulous look.

"That's twenty-five roses a minute," he said. "One hundred and twenty-five in five minutes. That's impressive, Makoto."

"Sakura, at work? She can do fifty," Makoto sighed. Minako scoffed.

"Impossible," she said. "Nobody can pipe fifty roses in a minute and still have a quality product."

"She's eighty-six and has been working in bakeries since she was two," Makoto said, moving to dump her practice roses in the trash. Usagi snatched them from her and popped one in her mouth. Makoto rolled her eyes. "Believe me, she can do it."

"Well, you're twenty and have been making gorgeous cakes since you were…well, since before you knew us, so that's at least what, six years?" Minako asked, snatching a rose from Usagi. "You're still the best we know."

"But I'm not the best _I _know," Makoto sighed, "and if I'm going to enter a professional competition –"

"You'll blow them out of the water," Nate said, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He dropped a kiss on her cheek. "It's a good idea, Makoto. And even if you don't win, isn't the experience alone worth it?"

She reached up and dabbed a bit of blue icing on his nose.

"We'll see," she hummed.


	3. Aug 10: Dark AU

**10 August 2019**

_**Prompt: **__Dark AU (Setting)_

_**Fandom:**__ Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_

_**Character/Pairing:**__ Beryl, Senshi, Shitennou, Tsukino Usagi, Chiba Mamoru_

_**Rating:**__ T / PG-13 / Teen_

_**Notes:**__ S1 AU. Just to be safe: there's mentions of blood, and violence, and a lot of people die, but it's not graphic. Because happy endings are for cowards._

_i am old as time and forever young_

_i am every song that will stay unsung_

_i'll find you, remind you…_

_. . : : i'm alive (reprise) | next to normal : : . ._

She can feel the darkness closing in. It's warm and welcoming, a smothering blanket fresh from the dryer after a long day spent in the snow. It's the protection of a cave against the howling storm outside. It's a shield against the harsher truths of those she had thought she had loved, who she had thought had loved her. It's a sharp blade made of the blackest glass, ready to cut down any who would betray her. It's the deep blood rushing from the wound as her enemies fall.

It's power. Power that had been ripped from her by that light-loving Moon bitch. Power that had hidden away in this darkest place at the coldest point of her beloved planet. Power that had waited a millennia and more for her to be reborn. Power that had called to her, beckoned her, bringing her to this point until the young climatologist Lizzie B. Athory is no more and all that remains, standing in Metalia's shadow…

…is Beryl.

– V –

It's all too easy after that. Ridiculously easy.

She detects the cats first, and while she is too late to stop the white one, the black one – Serenity's closest advisor – is easy enough to deter. Children are so easily swayed, and it doesn't take much work to slip her youma into the boys who then harass the cat. With Luna's royal symbol covered and her powers dampened, she buys precious time.

She lets Luna get the Moon whore. Revenge will be sweeter with that brat fighting for the side of _truth_ and _love_ and _justice_. When she finds herself alone and defenseless in the cold, in the dark, before Beryl can deliver the killing blow.

– V –

The priestess is an easy find. The soldier of Mars still burns so brightly, but the human girl is weak. Hurt and betrayed by the abandonment of her father, grieving the loss of her mother, and frustrated by the flake of a grandfather who shuffled too much responsibility on her young shoulders. Responsibility she took up because she was _good_ and _decent_ and _loved_, but responsibility that broke her down under its immense weight. Responsibility she refused to share with the new kannushi apprentice, that blinded her to his affections and further isolated her.

Such easy pickings.

Hino Rei is burned away in the bowels of the earth, and Fuchi becomes Beryl's first general for the coming battles.

– V –

The poor little orphan girl is an almost laughable target, stricken by fear and trauma from such a young age. Dead parents in a fiery crash caused by the element she used to wield so effortlessly. Shuffled through a heartless system that steadily broke down her own heart. Isolated by classmates because of her towering stature and natural strength. Broken-hearted by an older classmate who offered a date on a dare and laughed when she actually accepted, because how could anyone ever love _her?_

Kino Makoto never even puts up a fight. She falls asleep, alone, in her flat, and Cocijo wakes up, beside Fuchi, in the dark.

– V –

The genius proves trickier but – still – ultimately easy. Abandoned by a free-spirited father too in love with his art to properly love his family. Deserted by a mother who distracted herself with a career that had caused the need for distraction in the first place. Isolated by an intellect her peers were quick to judge and demean and loathe as she surpassed them in every respect. Considered frozen because of the walls she erected to protect herself from further hurt, but wouldn't it be easier to just freeze them all instead?

The offer is too tempting for Mizuno Ami, who had only ever wanted to be loved and accepted for who she is. When she is called away to the cold and the dark, Brigid thinks fear will be an acceptable substitute instead.

– V –

Their leader – their _true_ leader – is harder to catch. The white guardian finds her first and spirits her away to the North, and she is imbued with a sense of destiny and purpose before life can sink its claws into her. Still, Beryl is patient, and given time she can accomplish much. Betrayals and broken hearts are easy enough, and missed encounters seconds too late – the adopted son of the professor, lingering glances at an airport as he embarks and she departs – and the wheels are in motion. Youma can shed their skins easily enough, and deception has always been her favorite game. Hope can be fickle when you're alone in a foreign land.

Aino Minako is determined to stand strong, to become the leader she knows she is destined to be, but when those she is meant to lead are already whispering from the shadows Hathor thinks maybe the white cat lied, anyway.

– V –

She doesn't want the loyalty of his men this time around. As sweet as the betrayal had been before, they had proven ultimately useless – and she doesn't want Endymion's pain this time around. She wants _hers_.

So she'll settle for their blood.

And she's still a sucker for poetry, so she doesn't see why that blood can't be collected by her new generals. It would have been sweeter had the fools actually remembered anything, of course. It's better when the ginzuishou is unveiled and the memories start to come back, but Joji has already fallen by then. Zane follows soon after, an impetuous ball of rage as Zoisite tries to get Brigid to just _remember_, but old wounds run as deep as the shard she embeds in his chest, and then there are two.

Kassim – his memories as strong as Minako's, stronger than his prince's – almost sways Hathor. They're so close, the purifying light of that damned crystal washing over her strongest general, when Cocijo strikes, terrified of losing anyone else ever again. Somehow it doesn't bother her when Nate jumps in the way, ready to die to protect his leader, his brother. And so he does.

Kassim doesn't last much longer after that.

– V –

She's close to winning, almost won. They stand before her, the last bastion of hope for this miserable planet. The Earth Prince and his Moon Princess. The traitor and his whore. They still seem to think she'll listen, that she'll cede, that there can be a happy ending for everyone involved.

The only happy ending she wants is darkness, beautiful darkness, blanketing this world in a comforting peace. Everyone dead. Who is left to hate, to fight, if no one is left? And if there is no one left to fight, doesn't that automatically mean there is peace?

The thought is a comfort as she snaps her fingers. As Hathor materializes behind Endymion. As she slips her chain about his neck.

It's almost as comforting as Serenity's cries as she holds his lifeless body.

– V –

And so the Princess is alone when she faces her in the cold, in the dark.

Her tears are a rare vintage wine, and she gulps them down as she sends her generals to wage her war. Serenity is forced, time and again, to wield her powers against the girls who had a lifetime ago sworn to protect her. The snow surrounding the weeping princess is as red as her hair when she emerges, her form growing as Metalia's power seeps into her.

And yet…still the little Princess stands. Weakly, with barely enough strength to support herself, but still standing. Defiant.

Beryl's eyes glint in the dying light of the Earth as the seal on Metalia's prison breaks, as the darkness surges to the surface. Envelopes her in its warmth, in its dominance.

And still the Princess stands.

The darkness will swallow her whole.

…and it will _choke_.


End file.
